2016 In the News

Jeff Colgan in International Studies Quarterly, " I view my work as more of a "proof of concept" than the last word on what we can learn from syllabi. As Tierney and Paulson-Smith point out, one way to improve the product would be to increase the number of syllabi in the dataset."

Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Honduras was in bad shape before the coup, but it has become far worse. It is corruptly governed, plagued by violence, and servile to rapacious foreign corporations."

David Rohde in Defense One, "But the story of Radovan Karadzic, a psychiatrist turned genocidal mini-state leader, provides lessons for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump."

Watson Institute Director Edward Steinfeld joined Brown University President Christina H. Paxson on a trip to China to explore potential collaboration opportunities and create awareness of Brown's commitment to addressing world challenges.

Justine Hastings in the New York Times, "By remembering a few targets and sticking to them, people may win the overall budget battle and avoid spending or saving too much. Behavioral economists refer to this as 'mental accounting."

Peter Andreas talks to BBC World News about former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadžić, and the black market that existed during the Bosnian war.

Following the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Watson Institute senior fellow Stephen Kinzer warns of future attacks and the possible goals ISIS hopes to accomplish.

Jeff Colgan in Political Violence at a Glance, "In the 1990s, Venezuela was an established democracy with entrenched civil rights and a well-functioning rule of law. For decades, its government had a president, a bicameral Congress, and a Supreme Court."

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar on Lawfare, "Who might serve on such a European counterterrorism commission? Members should have the stature to demand answers from European security agencies and command the respect of the public."

Mark Blyth, professor of political science, commented on an article about the corruption scandals threatening to end the political careers of Brazil and South Africa's leaders, Dilma Rousseff and Jacob Zuma.

Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Only Sanders is truly skeptical of what American intervention can accomplish. He has shown himself to be just as far outside the Washington consensus on foreign policy as he is on domestic policy."

Panelists gathered at the Watson Institute to discuss the impact of Latinos on the upcoming presidential race, an event sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Emily Oster's research cited on CNN showing that many at risk for Huntington's disease do not get tested.

Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, writes an op-ed about the reasons countries desire to acquire strategic depth and how it sometimes sets off a spiral of escalating tensions.

Jim Morone joins State of Mind to analyze the Super Tuesday results and give his election predictions.

Wendy Schiller, professor of political science, discusses what's at stake for presidential candidates on Super Tuesday.

Emily Oster, associate professor of international affairs, takes an economical approach to answering questions about vacationing with family and the dilemma of spending money in oppressed countries.

Stephen Kinzer joins The Takeaway with the latest on the fighting, and why the U.S. was so late in using diplomacy to try to end the war.

Jim Morone comments on the newly released Taubman Center poll in which Rhode Island residents preferred Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as presidential candidates.

Jim Morone comments on the Taubman Center's recent survey of Rhode Island residents' voting behavior in which Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton were highly favored.

Peter Andreas on Brink, "For the most part, transnational organized crime is a fuzzy new term for an old practice: smuggling. At base, much of what makes the business of organized crime transnational involves some form of profit-driven trade across borders. How transnational, organized and criminal the trade is tends to depend on the legal and financial risks."

Timothy Edgar, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, comments on the continuing legal battle between Apple and the FBI.

Watson's Costs of War project cited in FinFeed, "According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, 2.7 million service personnel have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, with more than half deployed on multiple occasions."

Chas Freeman on Real Clear World, "Our global standing has been diminished not just by the rise of others and the estrangement of allies, but by structural changes in our economy and disinvestment in education and research. We are becoming less competitive. Social mobility in America now compares unfavorably with that in other industrialized democracies."

Chas Freeman and Stephen Kinzer join a conversation hosted by Reinvent about oil prices and the Middle East with comments by Peter Leyden, Amy Myers Jaffe, Phyllis Bennis, and Andrew Bacevich.

Mark Blyth, professor of political science, takes part in a discussion about the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of austerity measures in Europe.

Jim Morone on Salon.com, "Donald Trump won almost every demographic and almost every precinct in New Hampshire. The Republican establishment is horrified."

Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press."

Timothy Edgar comments on Apple's refusal to help the FBI access encrypted data on the iPhone of one of the gunmen from the December 2014 San Bernadino attack.

Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "The complexity of foreign policy does not lend itself to one-liners. Nonetheless candidates have already come up with some good ones."

Mark Blyth in The Guardian, "By the end of 2015 market commentators were clamouring for an interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve to restore confidence."

Stephen Kinzer explains in an op-ed that Russia's strategy for its policy towards Syria is ideal and that America should put its Cold War mentality aside so that it can mediate the situation in Syria before another terrorist haven emerges. "Our reflexive rejection of all cooperation with Russia is a throwback to a vanished era. It prevents us from taking decisive steps to ease the crisis in Syria. Its effects are also being felt in Europe," Kinzer wrote.

Watson's Costs of War project cited in the Washington Post, "As usual, the source of Trump's claims are unclear. But depending on how you crunch the numbers, his $2 trillion figure for Iraq might be in the ballpark. A 2014 study released by the Watson Institute at Brown University said the amount spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through fiscal year 2014 was nearly $1.6 trillion."

Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow at the Watson Institute, comments on Saudi Arabia's plan to deploy ground troops in Syria.

Panelists gathered at the Watson Institute to discuss the facts surrounding the Zika virus outbreak, an event sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Wendy Schiller, chair of the political science department, comments on the midnight turnout tradition in the New Hampshire primary.

Emily Oster, associate professor of economics, responds to inquiries about life such as taking a low paying, fulfilling job versus a high paying, "soul crushing" job.

Timothy Edgar in Computer World, "Companies that were part of Safe Harbor should continue to honor the privacy commitments they made under that agreement, because the Privacy Shield, at least as it has been described so far, is very similar."

An article about the CDC's recent report on alcohol consumption during pregnancy cites work by Emily Oster, associate professor of economics and author of Expecting Better.

Ashutosh Varshney, professor of political science and international affairs, wrote an op-ed about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his perspective on nationhood, as observed from speeches and actions. Modi has brought Indian nationhood even closer to the jus sanguinis model and nothing suggests this more clearly than the closing remarks of his Wembley speech in London, according to Varshney.

Richard Arenberg in The Hill, "One of the most important tasks the Constitution assigns to our presidents is the nomination of justices to the Supreme Court."

Wendy Schiller, professor of political science, comments on an article about the failed video game company 38 Studios. "The idea of the state committing anything based on the expectation of revenue from another source is what makes people legitimately nervous," Schiller said in reference to a proposed baseball stadium and a multimillion dollar state infrastructure project.

Ashutosh Varshney in The India Express, "Modi has taken this idea much further — in concept, if not in law. He has brought Indian nationhood even closer to the jus sanguinis model. Overseas Indians are part of his idea of India."

Margaret Weir comments on an article about liberals turning to cities to enact policy changes."Historically, especially for groups that want more government action and more generous social and economic policies, they could go to the federal government and achieve those things," Ms. Weir said. "That has become more difficult. It's a reflection of the loss of power at the federal level."

Stephen Kinzer in the Boston Globe, "Obama's proposed "modernization" increases our vulnerability, not our security. The first and most obvious reason is that it will certainly lead other countries to seek equivalent arsenals of their own."

Emily Oster, associate professor of economics, answers questions about everyday problems from readers as part of Quartz' Ask Emily section.

Jeff Colgan in Sputnik News, "The whole world is one big global market, and importers just take whatever is the cheapest oil, after factoring in transportation costs and quality differentials."

Jim Morone comments on the likelihood of Bernie Sanders becoming the Democratic nominee over Hillary Clinton, despite his recent surge in polls.